Highly automated

Although the data center is massive, it is managed with a staff of 30 to 45, including custodial and security workers. Building the facility, however, generated roughly 3,000 construction-related jobs, with the peak workforce reaching around 1,100 workers.

Location, location, location

Microsoft and others in the industry place a huge premium on where they put their data centers, picking spots close to cheap abundant power, water, and other key ingredients. About 70 percent of a facility's economics are determined before you break ground, Microsoft executives said.

From the outside

An exterior view of the Chicago Data Center. Because Microsoft isn't looking to attract attention, there's no identification outside. Even on the inside it's hard to tell whose facility it is, unless you look closely at a couple art pieces that note they are from Microsoft's art collection.